Isis and Khanate Members Join Forces as Jodis

&fsWhy would a decidedly un-heavy band like Strapping Young Lad have to go and take the album name Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing when it would have been absolutely perfect for the upcoming album by Jodis, the new project featuring members of Isis and Khanate? To us, heavy means the dark sludge of a deep, murky swamp, not skullets and joke songs backed by what sounds like a computerized buzz saw. So, yeah, SYL, not heavy. Jodis, heavy as a really heavy thing.

According to a press release from Hydra Head, Jodis will release a seven-song album entitled Secret House on October 27 through the label. Conveniently enough, the band features Hydra Head owner Aaron Turner of Isis fame, as well as eternal weirdos James Plotkin (Khanate, Khlyst, Phantomsmasher, O.L.D.) and Tim Wyskida (Khanate, Blind Idiot God).

Plotkin has posted one song on his MySpace page and had this to say about the new project in one of his blog entries: "For now... think of the stretched out, tempo-less nature of Khanate but of a much more 'relaxed,' 'ambient' or even 'tonal' focus. Don't expect METAL, expect music that doesn't adhere to any genre whatsoever. I wouldn't have it any other way..."

Meanwhile, the label has an even more verbose way of describing the sounds of the band: "Jodis is a modern exploration of restrained sonic minimalism and tonal/textural density. Jodis' Secret House, as a whole, recalls a void, a shoreless pit, a slow nihilistic decent into absolute blankness... The vocals emote a deviating distress, one that the listener will walk away from also knowing. The guitars loom with an almost inconceivable image of stillness. The percussion possesses an irregular circularity facilitating the general disorientation encapsulating the mood of the record. In summation, a thorough listen would kick the living shit out of your aptitude for co-habituation with other humans."

The label has also passed along a tracklisting for Secret House, which plays out like this: